The Stunning New Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante EWT Strikes in Abu Dhabi

There is a common saying about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that goes something like this: If Dubai is the fun-loving “Las Vegas” of the emirates, then Abu Dhabi is the more edgy, culturally aligned “Switzerland” of the region.

That is why it is particularly apt that watchmaker Greubel Forsey selected Abu Dhabi, with its compelling combination of enormous wealth and culture, for the debut of the intriguing new timepiece at the inaugural Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons-curated Mavericks of Time event.

Before we get into this new timepiece’s specs, there are two milestones Greubel Forsey is marking alongside the release of the Nano Foudroyante EWT that need mentioning (you know, besides the brand’s 20th birthday, which it is also celebrating this year).

First, the movement of this new piece, created using nano-mechanics, constitutes the tenth and what the brand believes to be its “most technologically disruptive” of its “Fundamental Invention.”
 

And second, the new Nano Foudroyante EWT is the first Greubel Forsey timepiece to feature a flying tourbillon and manual-wind flyback function.

When you consider the history of horological instruments, the direction has always been towards miniaturization: clock towers gave way to grandfather clocks, then mantel and table clocks, then pocket watches, and finally wristwatches.

Now, with advanced nano-mechanics, it has become possible to regulate a watch movement’s energy on an ever-more tiny scale, reducing energy consumption and the overall number of components needed to power a wristwatch.
 

Timepieces have been produced with a whirling foudroyante second hand (also known as “flying seconds” or “lightning strike” seconds) since the late 19th century. In a traditional foudroyante second hand, the one-second interval is displayed in a sub-dial and broken up into discreet partial-second segments based on the frequency of the balance wheel, providing for increased accuracy and a “jumping” countdown.

Fun Fact: The French word “foudroyant” translates as “striking as with lightning.” Thus, the complication’s name in German is “blitzende sekunde” (flashing second). Meanwhile, the Italian word for it, “diavoletto,” or “little devil,” is probably our favorite.
 

Unfortunately, this complication has always been very energy consuming, which is why it is rarely seen.

In the new Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante EWT, the number of beats for a 3Hz balance wheel is doubled to six, and each of the six jumps per second requires only 16 nanojoules (or .016 microjoules) apiece (a traditional seconde foudroyante uses 30 microjoules per jump). That translates to a power reduction of, gulp, about 90% for a perpetually activated foudroyante second hand.

Moreover, by making the seconde foudroyante a perpetual display, Greubel Forsey could remove the gear train that a traditional foudroyante uses to divide the second, as energy is directly sourced and managed from a minimal set of low-inertia wheels. Fewer components equal a smaller movement.
 

The new watch’s movement comprises only 428 components and, at a 31mm diameter, it is the smallest calibre ever built by Greubel Forsey.

Now, that’s a fairly quick explanation of a very technical development. We wish we could go even deeper, but Greubel Forsey is understandably playing the full details of this new technology very close to the vest.

For even more visual drama, the display for the six-segment jumper rides atop the brand’s first-ever flying tourbillon at 5 o’clock. While the tourbillon rotates, the Nano Foudroyante indicator always stays aligned towards 12 o’clock for uninterrupted readability.

A conventional small seconds indicator between 7 and 8 o’clock and a minute-tallying chronograph sub-dial at 9 o’clock operated by a pusher at 1 o’clock round out the horological offerings and help balance the dial real estate.